For those of you who might have been wondering whether Tom Daschle would be a strong advocate for healthcare reform, or an ineffectual cave machine like he was as Senate Majority Leader, wonder no more:

Republican senators largely held their fire against former Senator Tom Daschle on Sunday, saying that while they questioned how he made a $128,000 mistake on his taxes, they were not yet prepared to vote against his nomination as health secretary.

“We’ll have to question former Senator Daschle and understand his explanation, and then have a conversation about it and see where it goes,” Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, the second-ranking Senate Republican, said on “Fox News Sunday.” As to how much trouble the tax issue could present for the nomination, he said, “I think it’s too early to tell.”

So they jump all over Geithner for his tax problem, they jump all over Holder for basically acting like a Republican, but they’re reserving judgment on Daschle despite having a golden opposition opportunity on a silver platter. It’s because they know that Daschle as HHS Secretary is the best thing that could happen to the anti-healthcare cause. Hell, they probably want him more than Obama does.